Dean, School of Public Health and Health Professions

Published
March 17, 2015

Dear University Community:

It is our great pleasure to announce the appointment of
Professor of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, Jean
Wactawski-Wende as Dean of the School of Public Health and Health
Professions, effective immediately. Dr. Wactawski-Wende has
served as Interim Dean since July 2014.

Dr. Wactawski-Wende’s appointment results from an
extensive national search that yielded a highly competitive pool.
Dr. Wactawski-Wende’s brings to her new role impressive
scholarly accomplishments, significant administrative experience
and a vision for the school including how to advance its mission of
improving health. We are confident that with her strong and
forward-thinking leadership, she will succeed in facilitating broad
collaboration across campus and in the community that sustains and
builds the impact of the School of Public Health and Health
Professions and our university.

A renowned scholar and UB faculty member since 1989, Dr.
Wactawski-Wende is a member of the American Epidemiological Society
and one of UB’s leading researchers, serving as principal
investigator on dozens of studies with foci on cancer, osteoporosis
and periodontal disease in postmenopausal women, and reproductive
health issues in younger women. Dr. Wactawski-Wende is the
principal investigator of UB’s Women’s Health
Initiative (WHI) Center, leader of the WHI Northeast Regional
Center, and national chair of the WHI Steering Committee. WHI
is one of the largest clinical studies ever undertaken in the
United States and was launched by the National Institutes of Health
in 1993 to address common causes of disease and death in
postmenopausal women. Dr. Wactawski-Wende has authored over 250
peer-reviewed articles.

Prior to her appointment as Interim Dean, Dr. Wactawski-Wende
served from 2009-2014 as UB’s Vice Provost for Strategic
Initiatives and Research Advancement, significantly advancing the
university’s research agenda.

We extend our sincere thanks to Dean Nancy Smyth and all of the
members of the search committee for their outstanding service,
which was critical to the successful outcome of this search. For
more details on this appointment, please view the full announcement
here.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Wactawski-Wende and
welcoming her to this significant leadership role within our campus
community.